This should be something made every year along with MVP baseball games...
When starting out, I played a few more exhibition games and mini games before heading out and starting a season with a team. EA made a new way to swing and throw the ball which makes it more challenging and more realistic to my liking. In college, no one is perfect so using the right analog stick to throw and swing kind of gives the game more control to the user. It took me sometime to get used to but it will come to me sooner or later. The options in the game look just like any other MVP game but with a college twist. They have some nice mini-games to play for the people who need something different in the game. The games consist of Hitting and Pitching to test out your skills or to just practice on your weakest ones. Dynasty Mode, Tournament , Xbox Live, Home run Showdown, Coach Mode and Scenario Mode are all a part of this game and for any baseball lover, this can satisfy you totally.
With any sports game out in the market, creating players and teams are a must and EA has a wonderful create lineup in this game. Anyone can create a player, team or ballpark with some multi-menu steps. The create-a-player option is kind of like other MPV games but with some added features that was not in some of the older versions of the game. The create-a-team option is good but I don’t like the fact that I just take one team out of a conference and edit them with my team. I would have liked the option to just add them to a conference if they have room (like the Big 12 won’t take a 13th team but the Big Ten which has 11 teams could use another team in their conference to make it even). To make a team in this game is fairly easy and is still a good tool for any user to look into. The create-a-ballpark option is pretty nice with a lot of options to choose from for making a ballpark. You can take some of the pro stadiums looks and place them in your own. You can make the whole fence ‘the Green Giant’ or keep them all level. This option to create-a-ballpark is a key feature I love and encourage others to use as well.
The MPV Videos are kind of nice as well since you can watch all the new features in the game and get a nice understanding of what you can do. I am more of a visual learner so I totally understand why them placed it in the game like this but I would have liked to see more of a ‘hands-on-feature’ to learn the basics (like in Tiger Woods Golf games, you have to play one round of golf and do what the instructor tells you before going on tour). The new Hitter’s Eye feature can be kind of confusing since I am not used to the colors yet but I am getting there. A nice feature for anyone playing the game for the first time or a veteran of the game.
The Dynasty Mode seems more complicated then most since there is recruiting but when you start recruiting players, you can talk to the player about scholarship percentage and when they will be playing, if you tell them a lie and don’t play them a year you promised, they will most likely leave. There is more about this in the Video section of the game about recruiting along with ways to find talent, roster management and program prestige rating. There are other options in the Dynasty Mode like stats, team management and schedule (all standard to a dynasty mode for a sports game).
The sound is probably as good as you will get with a sporting game. The announcing is quality in the game and I really don’t mind listening to them (unlike other sports game that are out). The ‘sound trax’ as EA calls them are not bad but on one anyone mainstream users would know but a mix of rock and hard rock in this jukebox. It seems you can add about 40 songs to the 10 tracks already standing in the game so if you wish, place whatever music you want to hear in the game.
All in all the game is good and if you like baseball games or you are a baseball lover at heart, this game will not disappoint you. For all you college junkies out there, this should be a game you buy just for the sure pleasure of playing as your favorite team and win the national championship in all three college sports games out for the Xbox. A little heads up, this game might be a little tough for a inexperienced baseball user since there is a lot to understand and figure out in the rules or baseball. So lets PLAY BALL!